It’s the very simple things that exciting him most; “It’s always very exciting when you get a good new record. That feeling never goes away, when you get a particular good record that you really, really like you cant wait to go out and play it”. Even through all of his experiences as a globe-trotting DJ, producer and remixer, Dave Seaman’s job is as satisfying as it’s ever been… “I think when that goes, you have to stop and look at what your doing”. Dave Seaman is one of the most grounded DJs in the world. Having done it all, having seen it all, he hasn’t let it all go to his head.
Dave Seaman’s talent as a DJ is undeniable, and he never fails to please Australian crowds whenever he tours down under. With over a decade and a half of DJing in every corner of the globe, producing and remixing many successful track under Brothers in Rhythm, and mixing some incredibly successful compilations under the Renaissance and Global Underground brandings, not forgetting he was editor of Mixmag at one point, Dave is at the forefront of the development of dance culture.
Dave Seaman’s DJing career began at the age of twelve, back in school discos. “I’d been on holiday when I was eight years old and saw a guy DJ in the hotel. So I wanted to be a DJ since I was eight really.” But he only acquired his first piece of equipment when he was twelve and went from there doing friends birthdays and so forth.
For those who have never heard Dave Seaman play as a DJ, then I recommend you take a listen to any of his Global Underground or Renaissance CDs. I would describe their sound as fun, bouncy progressive house, containing uplifting melodies and hypnotic trance elements. I ask Dave if this is a common thread within his music; I quickly find out that trying to label his sound is fruitless. “I just pick out records I like really. There are no rules to what I look for, if it’s a good record and I think I can get it into a set, I’ll try and work it into a set.”
“People label my music as progressive house,” begins Dave, “but it’s very difficult to describe what progressive house is. It could be anything from Danny Tenaglia through to Bushwacka or Timo Maas or Way Out West all the way up to as far as Oliver Lieb and Christian Smith really.” So why do people describe their music as progressive then Dave? “It covers everything from deep house to techno; whether that’s “progressive house”, I don’t know, it’s more of a scene really. It (progressive) is still main room Saturday night music, but it’s not done by numbers it’s more trying to push the boundaries I think.”
Dave Seaman’s music style has evolved over the years showing why he has not only kept with the times as a DJ and producer, but also set the standard. His production work with his fellow ‘Brothers in Rhythm’ has developed over years, and has always been of a sound that he would play in his own sets. “The music I produce is always stuff I play.” So in essence his production work and DJ work aren’t that far apart as far as style goes. “Everything we’ve done I’ve played really. The things we’ve done recently, Placebo, Dido and that kind of thing have been big records for me that I’ve played out all the time. It’s something I look out to achieve when making a record is have it as something I play out as a DJ.”
Upon inquiring into what work we will be seeing from Brothers in Rhythm soon, Dave states that the latest Brothers in Rhythm work has been the Placebo and Dido remixes. He confesses they haven’t been doing much for a while, as they’ve all been very busy with other work. “Dido and Placebo have been the most recent, and I’ve been doing a lot of DJing and the others have been busy with Radio1 and Kylie.” But they’re ready to do some new material. Dave tells me they’re working on a Brothers in Rhythm single at the moment and have a couple of remixes to do before the end of the year.
If you take a look at their remixing credits, you’ll notice that Brothers in Rhythm like to remix a lot of non-dance orientated artists; Kylie, Alanis Morisette, Dido and Placebo to name some. It’s something Dave says they find more interesting to do, it’s more of a challenge. “It’s more interesting I think when you try and remix songs.” He elaborates; “When you remix instrumental stuff it’s not very challenging, we might as well do our own tracks, but when you have a song to work with it gives you a strong starting point and something to work around. Taking a song from one genre and making it into a dance track is exciting.”
As a DJ and producer, Dave Seaman thinks highly of the dance music being made in Australia. In fact he has signed Melbourne group Highland to his label Audio Therapy and will be releasing their track ‘No Way Out’, very soon. He has also signed another Australian production team, Digby & Oliver (Gab Oliver and Jayson Digby), to his label and will be releasing their single ‘Sunshower’. Dave states that there are quite a few mixes on his label which are Australian, as producers he thinks we are very eager, well educated and put a lot of time and effort into it.
As a DJ, Dave Seaman is as travelled as they come, playing everywhere from Columbia to Israel. Through his travels he doesn’t find the scenes so different that he has to adjust the style of music he plays. “I do find, for example, that in Israel they like it when I play a little harder, but I do what I do and I’ve been lucky to find people all over the world love it.” This appreciation for Dave Seaman’s music has seen him win various awards and accolades himself, such as ‘Best Producer’ at the 1999 International Dance Music Awards. But I inquire about this whole ‘superstar’ DJ phenomenon, how does he understand the notion of praising the DJ? “Dance music is very popular and people need and want to show their appreciation,” explains Dave, “and people need to put a face on the sound as dance music has been quite faceless.”
Despite the current world climate and terrorist attacks on the United States, Dave isn’t about to become another in the long line of international DJs cancelling their trips to Australia. In fact, it doesn’t bother him at all, he thinks flying is as safe now as it has ever been. “I think I could fall victim to terrorism in England or Ireland or Russia or Spain or so many places where terrorism exists”, Dave thinks logically, “if a big war broke out and things got more dangerous than recently then maybe I would consider it, but now its fine.”
For the past few years Dave Seaman has been visiting Australia on a bi-annual basis, and every stop over proves quite popular. But will he be travelling to Australia more often? “I’m actually going to be doing a Global Underground CD from Melbourne, which is going to be in January, so I may be back in Sydney at the same time, and if I don’t make it to Sydney in January, then hopefully I’ll be back in March.” Isn’t there some big festival happening in March? if he does come to Australia then, all I can say is “yay!”.
You can catch Dave Seaman headlining the Renaissance tour on the following dates:
26th October – Room680 Melbourne
27th October – home Sydney
